King of Darkness and The White Flame

Chapter 14

When I opened my eyes, the sun shone in them. The pain in my ankle subsided while I was passed out. My only focus is on Lilith and getting to her. I've lost time. I have no idea in which direction they'd gone. I try to remember where I heard her voice. They must have been heading in the same direction I was.  I think. I grab the nearest stick that looks strong enough to hold my weight and that is long enough for my height. I use it to try and stand. 

I trudge in the direction opposite of our campsite. I scour the ground for footprints, broken twigs, anything to give me an indication that I'm on the right track. I find none. Step by slow step I stumble along. I stop every few steps to listen for snaps or crunches under feet nearby. The only sounds I hear are the birds' caw and the hiss of a snake coiled around a Tree of Heaven nearby. The blue sky peeks through for the first time in days. The golden sun glitters through the leaves above. The air is fresh like just after a rainstorm, only it hasn't rained in months. Only strong winds, dry storms, promises of rain. My throat scratches as I swallow. I have not drunk water since yesterday. The tornado must not have hit this far west. All the trees are still intact. Not a fallen log to be seen. Leaves crunch beneath my feet. My ankle starts to throb.

Help! Plays in my memory on a loop. It motivates me to keep moving. Lilith's soft hair waving in the wind. Her soft hair on my pillow. 

"Well... I'm close with everyone in our community. We share our food off the table with anyone in need. My brother and I are the only ones left now but my father taught us kindness. Children play in the streets until dark. We know that we can trust everyone around us. It isn't boring, we just know there are boundaries and consequences." she explained that night. I didn't understand what she meant then, but I admired the way she spoke. The joy in her tone, the way she bounced on the bed as she spoke, swaying her hair from side to side. It was a brief conversation. It was enough to make me fall madly in love with her. When she joined us on the road. I thought this was no mission for a woman. She proved me wrong. She proved stronger than I imagined. The water drained her energy and the long walk through the woods, yet she did not complain. She'd hurt her ankle when she fell in the hole before we went through the wall and yet, she still hadn't complained. She's strong, I'm sure she can take care of herself. I breathe through the panic of trying to relinquish the control I don't have. 

The woods seemed to go on forever. Without water, I do not know how far I'll make it. I stopped for a minute. I looked back to see how far I'd come from the entrance of the woods but I couldn't see where I started either. Perhaps I should just sit here and wait for death to come. I sit on top of a rock at the foot of a pine tree. I lean my back against the bark of the Pine. I try to catch my breath. As my breathing slows I hear something in the distance. The tweet of the birds and what sounds like lapping. I grapple with gravity as I lift myself back onto my feet. Careful to keep my breathing steady to follow the sound of the lapping. 

Not far from where I was sitting, North of the direction I was travelling in. Is a stream. Rare and interesting birds fly overhead of all different colours. Birds with long beaks and birds with white belly's. Blackbirds that's feather's glisten a metallic blue and green. I watch as they play and land on a bobcat that laps the water. It hasn't seen me. I retreat back into the protection of the trees. My throat scratches as if in protest of my choice to hide. 

If the bobcat sees me, however, I'll be lunch. I cannot run. I can only hide, and pray it goes away. I take a seat on the ground below the stump of a Tree of Heaven, out of view of the bobcat. I peer around the tree every now and then. It's still there. The song of the birds lulls me to sleep. When I wake the sun is directly above. The bobcat has finally gone. Using my makeshift walking stick to pull me back up, I stroll along to the stream and quench my thirst. 

After a good long drink of water. I sit down for a brief moment. I have nothing to carry water in. West, in the distance, I see what looks like civilization along the stream. That must be where she is. I decide. Taking up my stick, I don't go back under the shield of the woods and instead walk along the rocky bank of the stream. The walk is difficult but it's more accessible for the water. I pray that my bobcat friend doesn't return. I hear a howl far in the distance. The sun beats at my back. My jacket had been ripped when I fell and I'm hesitant to discard it. Nights are piercing. Every few meters I sit and walk. Dragging along my injured leg and biting hard through the pain. I trip and stumble, catch myself on a sharp rock. My hands were scraped and bleeding. I march on. 

Finally, I see movement. A house perched on the bank of the stream straight ahead of me. A little boy skips on slippery stones, his arms out to prevent gravity from pulling him down. He bends when he sees something, holds it in his tiny hands. The call of a woman from the house causes the boy to place his treasure back into the water. He runs to the house and slips inside. Wisps of smoke twirl into the sky. I don't want to intrude and who knows how welcoming these folk are, but my stomach grumbles. I take the risk of being imprisoned for trespassing or for looking like a criminal. Nobody would believe I was King of the rats never mind King of the Skulls. I knock on the door of the small house. A short woman with a large frame opens the door. She sees me and her eyes light up.

"You must be King Jo," Well, I'll be... Someone recognizes me. My relief is evident. "Come on in." she opens the door wider and to my surprise, sitting at the round kitchen table is Hunter, Jessie and Bear. "Took you long enough to get here, Son," Jessie says. Hunter chuckles and I am speechless.